How Japan training helped national women's volleyball team

Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA, Philippines – A grueling, exhausting 17-day training camp in Japan was all worth it for head coach Francis Vicente, who on Wednesday touted the improvements made by the national women's volleyball team.

[I'm happy because what I wanted to happen, happened. The team's discipline was there, and in terms of camaraderie and friendship, they also improved. They talked to each other and they didn't snub each other.]

The team opened camp in Okayama last July 17, and played a series of matches with the Seagulls. More than the scrimmages, however, the Filipinas learned plenty from the Japanese coaches who took over the practice sessions.

[At the beginning, we lost because we couldn't keep up with our opponents' pace. However, when the Japanese coach started teaching them, their pace improved. They also corrected our players' mistakes and their bad habits.]

[When we went to Osaka, their mentality became different. They didn't want to lose.]

The Filipinas were also more composed and relaxed inside the court, as opposed to how they played in Okayama where they had a tendency to become rattled whenever their foes started to catch up or build a big lead.

[The Japanese coaches said the team has improved in service and movement. They became faster, and hopefully we can carry this to the next league.]

Aside from the progress made in the team's skills and conditioning, Vicente was thrilled to report that the Filipinas' chemistry greatly improved over the course of the camp. With several members of the national team playing for different teams – and even different leagues – their 17-days abroad helped them to get to know each other better, especially as Vicente and the coaching staff imposed a cellphone and social media ban.

[These are all superstars, but we saw them talking each other. That's their biggest improvement, their egos deflated. So I just let them be, I let them talk to each other. We went to dinner together, to lunch together. No one fought; they were all nice to each other.]

The national team will take a brief break on Thursday before going back to work on Friday. On August 9, they will open their campaign in the 2017 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship against Hong Kong at the Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan, Laguna.

Vicente is confident that all the lessons that his team learned in Japan will be of great use to them when they compete next week.

[Hopefully, they can apply what they learned from the Japanese coaches to their games, the technique and technical side of the Japanese in terms of playing the sport. I'm confident that they can do it.]